Mark Fitzgerald
Mark "Fitz" Fitzgerald was a former junior (11th grade) at Degrassi. He was expelled as of Vegas Night, in Season 10. He is seen with Owen Milligan, Johnny DiMarco, Bruce the Moose, Riley Stavros, Blue Chessex, and Bianca DeSousa among other students. It appears that he has a broader group of friends than his counterpart, Bruce. He is the school bully and Bianca was his "partner in crime." He was arrested for having a knife in Degrassi: A Night In Vegas, and he was also expelled from Degrassi. Before being expelled, he was enemies with Eli Goldsworthy and Adam Torres. While in juvy, Fitz turned to religion and became highly religious. He changed his ways and tried to make up with Eli and Clare, earning Clare's forgiveness but not Eli's. He was portrayed by James Edward Campbell. Character His character was once solely based on his actions as a bully, but his attention to the characters of Adam Torres, Clare Edwards, and Eli Goldsworthy have given him a stronger personality and role in the series. Although he has had his fair share of antagonistic behavior, he has been shown to be slightly more caring than Bruce. Although he has shown a tendency towards homophobia, a certain intolerance has not been shown, and his rude behavior towards Adam can be seen as simple comebacks to their strangled relationship. During Degrassi: The Boiling Point, Fitz become somewhat of a rival to Eli Goldsworthy. He has been shown beating him up on a few occasions, however, he has seen the worst end of the rivalry, having been arrested twice as a direct result of Eli's antics (once for menencing after Eli spiked his drink at Vegas Night, the other being Fitz's arrest due to a Fake ID mishap). He is also romantically interested in Clare Edwards, as of Jesus, Etc. (2), who happened to be dating his former (on Fitz's part) enemy, Eli at the time. Character History Season 9 In [[Shoot to Thrill|'Shoot To Thrill']], Fitz is seen bullying Connor along with Bruce and Johnny. Later on, Fitz and Bruce are seen making crude comments toward Fiona Coyne, at one point calling her smoking hot. Fitz is also the one who laughs at Johnny when Alli Bhandari is sitting on his lap. He is later seen stealing a sign with Bruce in an alley. He also makes fun of Johnny when he sees the picture Alli took of him. He was even seen handing in his phone into Simpson before his test. He was also talking with Bruce and Riley about Alli's naked pictures. In [[Beat It (1)|'Beat It (1)']], During the lifeguarding class, Fitz is the one who notices Riley state of arousal and mocks him for it, and later mocks him again in front of Fiona. Later Fitz is seen talking with Riley and Blue in the lockeroom. In [[Beat It (2)|'Beat It (2)']], Fitz is one of those in the crowd that sees Riley punch Sam, the gay lifeguard. In Heart Like Mine (1), Fitz makes fun of student teacher Marco calling him short and later on asks if he can get an extension on his essay. Season 10 In What a Girl Wants (2), he is with Bianca and says, "Loser!" when Dave is giving his student representative speech. In Better Off Alone (1), he is at The Dot with Bianca. He has a hood on, but when he wakes up in the car with Bianca and K.C., he is wearing the same jacket as he was in The Dot. In [[Better Off Alone (2)|'Better Off Alone (2)']], he is seen in the back of Bianca's car. He, as well as Bianca and K.C., is suffering from a hangover. He starts out asking the handler of the phone (that began ringing) to turn it off. He was also aware of K.C.'s coach (after K.C. goes into a Gin induced verbal spout about his life). He asks whether the hooker in his past was really true and he states that he wants on the team, suggesting his interests in women to be purely sexual. In [[Try Honesty (1)|'Try Honesty (1)']], he is seen standing in a parking lot where Eli wants to park his car in. Eli tells him to move and Fitz decides to tear the skull off of Eli's car, Morty, which leads to a rivalry between him and Eli. Later, Eli asks him to apologize for ruining his car and Fitz says, "I'm sorry, about you nards." Eli then responds "About my wh-?" Fitz then kicks Eli in crotch. Eli then decides to make a fake truce and so he offers Fitz a fake ID. However, Eli and Adam then get on the 'Most Wanted' lists of criminals and find one that looks a bit like Fitz, so that cops will think he's the criminal. In Try Honesty (2), when Eli gets to school, he hands Fitz his fake ID, proceeding to walk away after. Adam asks Eli what they'll do until Fitz gets caught, and Eli tells him to wait. Later on, Fitz greets Eli and Clare in a very friendly manner in the hall. He even goes as far to call them, "My brother...and my sister." When Clare notices, she questions Eli if he has completed his mission. Eli tells her that his mission had only just begun and there was more to it. Clare seems worried and tells Adam that if Eli does anything bad, someone should be there for him, but Adam tells her to stay out of it. After school, when Fitz walks out of the store, Eli makes a phone call to 911 and tells them to come quickly because there is a fight. Eli walks up to Fitz provokes him about the fake ID. Eli pushes Fitz, and then Fitz grabs Eli by his shirt and throws him into an alley. Fitz keeps punching and kicking him, while Eli insults Fitz's punches. Soon, the police arrive, and they break up the fight. When Fitz tries to run away, they both get pushed against a wall. The fake ID is brought up, and Fitz thinks he'll get away without any charges, because it doesn't have his real identity on it. To Eli's amusement, Fitz is handcuffed and arrested, while Eli is free to go. At school once again, Clare is worried and asks where he has been. She notices the cut on Eli's lip and asks what had happened. Eli explains everything, and Clare is surprised that he got Fitz arrested. She walks away, saying she was about to go to Mr. Simpson about Eli's mental issues. Eli stops her and asks her to give him some credit. Fitz walks in and declares war against Eli. To Clare, Eli says he's right where he wants to be, in Fitz's head. In My Body Is A Cage (1), 'Fitz is seen walking down the hall with Owen, where they run into Clare and Adam. Adam had just bumped into Clare, dropping his tampons all over the floor. Owen and Fitz tease Adam about the tampons, but Clare covers for him. Later, Owen and Fitz corner Adam in the washroom. They tell him they heard something from Bianca and attempt to force him to urinate in the urinal like a male. When Adam refuses, they realize that Adam is biologically a female. Owen picks him up, carries him out of the washroom and throws him against the door. After Drew, Adam's step-brother, realizes what Fitz and Owen did to him, he goes outside looking for Fitz and Owen while Adam follows, trying to stop him. Drew and Fitz get into a fight, and Drew is thoroughly beaten up by Fitz. [[My Body Is A Cage (2)|'My Body Is A Cage (2)]], Fitz is not present, but Mr. Simpson tells Mrs. Torres that both Fitz and Owen were suspended for assaulting Adam. In Purple Pills (1), Adam makes plans with Eli at The Dot, to hangout after school. He tells Elit that he ordered a pay per view movie, and Eli jokes around saying he doesn't want to watch that kind of stuff, but Adam tells him he's gross and that it's a movie on kung-fu. Fitz comes in and starts to bust them, but Eli tells him to get lost. After Eli, tells him that he can't because he has to stay home and study. Adam is upset because he was hoping to do something, but just ignores it. After, school he goes back to The Dot and sees Eli and Clare on having a study hangout. Eli is embarrassed and he explains everything. Adam is pissed off, and tries to ignore him. Eli and Clare then offer for him to tag along, but Adam tells them he wont because he's not going to be a third wheel again. At school the next day Adam ignores Eli and Clare's seating area, and listens to Fitz when he asks if Adam wants to sit across from him. Adam is confused that Fitz was an enemy and now he's trying to be a friend. Fitz also says it's a free country, and Adam can do whatever he wants. Fitz offers to forget about their past incidents if Adam is willing to. They eat lunch and have a friendly conversation, and when Eli confronts Adam, Adam basically makes fun of Eli and makes him leave pissed off. At The dot after school, Eli confronts Adam about him hanging out with the bully, Fitz. Adam tells him he's tired of being pitied and being the third wheel. He makes Eli feel bad and give up to say that he pitied him. Adam ignores Eli and Clare and continues to hang with Fitz. In Purple Pills (2), 'Adam is seen in the fitness room of Degrassi high school with Fitz and some others. Fitz tells Adam he has to leave as he is putting on boxing gloves. Fitz lets Adam in on a secret. Fitz is in the fighting club. Adam tells Fitz he wants to fight, to prove he really is a boy even though he is not. Fitz is surprisingly accepting of this. He tells Adam the rules, one, there is no fighting club, two don't tell anybody about the fighting club. Later on Adam is ready to take on his first opponent, until Bianca walks through the door. Fitz tells Adam the third rule is that guys can't punch girls. Adam storms out calling the group losers. The next day Adam is angry. Eli approaches with a snarky comment about how wrong Adam is to befriend Fitz. Adam agrees with Eli and tells him he's going to fight Fitz. He approaches Fitz and punches him in the stomach and throws him to the ground. Eli tells Adam to stop and Adam replies with " I can fight my own battles." Fitz challenges Adam to a real fight outside in the parking lot. Later on when Adam is practicing boxing in the fitness room, Eli and Clare confront Adam telling him to back out. Adam just walks away bumping into Eli on the way out. Clare asks Eli what he's going to do and Eli remains silent and exits the room, leaving Clare worried. Outside, Adam is pacing near a school bus. Eli comes up and tells him he still has time to back out but Adam is determined. Adam asks why he isn't with Clare. Eli replies that Clare doesn't understand boys, they have to stand by their buddies. Fitz comes into the parking lot. Adam walks over and starts pushing Fitz. Eli tries to break up the fight but Fitz hits Eli in the mouth causing him, again to bleed in the lip. Meanwhile as students are writing their exams in the gym, Clare lights a golf ball on fire and rolls it into the gym causing the smoke alarm to go off and the school to be evacuated which causes Eli and Adam to run and the fight to stop, though technically Adam won the fight when he kicked Fitz in the groin. In 'All Falls Down (1), Eli, protecting Clare, buts the blame of the stink bomb on Fitz, stating to Mr. Simpson that he heard Fitz bragging about it. Later, as Eli is just about to kiss Clare, Fitz interrupts angirly saying he had just been in Simpson's office for an hour. Eli replies by saying "Me and my loose lips!", to which Fitz puts Eli in a headlock, only stopping when a teacher sees. Clare is upset with the violence, and says "Can't you two just kiss and make-up?" to which Eli replies that the only way to keep a bully away is to make them scared. Later, when Clare is buying 2 tickets to the Vegas Night dance, Fitz makes a stupid comment, and then Clare tells him she set off the stink bomb, and that she'll take the blame with Simpson if he'll leave Adam and Eli alone. Fitz declines, which makes Clare tell him she'll do anything as long as it that doesn't involve breaking a commandment. Fitz says he'll leave Adam and Eli alone if, Clare goes to the dance with him, stating "Fitzy needs a date!", Clare hastily agrees. Later, when Clare is nervous about telling Eli the news, Adam does it for her, explaining "Better to just RIP the bandaid off!", then leaves them to talk. Eli is kind of mad, but goes along with it. When going outside, he spots Fitz, and storms through the doors, approaching him and saying "Big man Fitz, using Clare to get back at me." Fitz retaliates with "Ya, i guess she wants a boyfriend who wears less makeup than she does." Eli threatens "If you hurt her-"you'll do what?" Fitz interrupts, Eli has no comeback, "Yeah, that's what I thought." Fitz continues. Then, as he's leaving, he finally says "Don't worry, when we have sex, I'll be gentle." smirking. Eli gives him a major death glare. A few hours before the dance, Eli stops by Clare's house where she's getting ready with Alli and Jenna. Since they were talking about how crazy Clare's life is with the Eli and Fitz situation, when Jenna answers the door, she says "Speaking of the devil..". Eli brings Clare outside where he tries to give her drugs to put in Fitz's drink that will make him puke. She refuses. Eli asks "Who's side are you on!?" and she replies "I don't know- but I'm definetly not on the side of someone who tries to poison." In All Falls Down (2), Fitz is seen speaking with Clare at his locker. Clare confronts him about what he said to Eli. Fitz explains that although he is attracted to Clare, he would never try to have sex with her unless she reciprocated the act. Fitz and Clare enter Vegas Night with the rest of their conversation continuing on Fitz's anger with Eli. Clare originally planned for the two of them to speak, ending with Eli giving Fitz a full apology. Eli is seen by the drinks when Clare approaches followed by Fitz. Clare asks Eli to apologize, which he does, only to have Fitz saracastically go on to say that he wasn't 'Feeling' his words. Clare comes to Eli's defense going on to say that an apology was all Fitz wanted and the two (Eli and Fitz) proceed to smooth things over with a few drinks. Eli hands Fitz the cup with a smirk on his face. Clare notices this and asks Fitz and Eli to switch drinks (presumably wondering whether Eli would go on with his plan to poison Fitz). Fitz takes the drink and begins throwing up almost immediately. He runs out of the room with Clare glaring at Eli. Eli goes on to mutter that it was her call to switch the drinks. Clare goes to see an angry Fitz at his locker. As Clare apologizes for Eli's actions, Fitz takes a knife from his locker. Clare sees this and immediately ends the conversation going on to find Eli. She finds him outside in the hallways and tells him to run, stating the fact that Fitz has a knife. Fitz enters the scene with his knife out walking towards the couple. Clare tells him to stop to which Fitz replies, 'Shut up bitch," Fitz continues to glower at Eli making threats. Clare backs away as Fitz continues to bear down on Eli. He strikes the knife at Eli and Eli drops to the floor with a laughing Fitz nearly crying at the situation. He missed all his vitals and stuck the knife in the wall. Eli looks up at the knife and Fitz laughs at him, telling him his urine stains would come out with bleach. The police (already called) enter and arrest Fitz. Fitz is later seen being shoved into a cop car. In Jesus, Etc. (1),Clare and Eli run into Fitz. Then later Fitz approaches Clare while she is on her laptop outside on the picnic benches. Fitz said to Clare that he's sorry and when he was in jail god found him. He quickly runs when Eli's hearse drives up. She then tells him that she talked to Fitz. Eli shouts that Clare should stay away from Fitz because it is dangerous. Then at The Dot Clare and Adam are talking and they notice Fitz is working at The dot. Then later Adam is seen leaving The dot when Clare walks up to FItz and asks why he needed to talk to her and that he should keep a distance from her and Eli. Then Fitz says that he said he was messed up before he went to jail. That God showed him the way. Eli then drives up to The Dot to see them talking. He angrily walks up breaks the conversation and shoves Fitz and says back off, I'm serious! Then Fitz says I'm sorry Eli for everything, for the knife, everything. Eli then hesitates and says whatever. Eli then says "Lets go Clare. Are you coming?" She hesitates and says yes and they leave. In Jesus, Etc. (2), Clare receives several emails, consisting of Bible verses, prayers, and concern over Eli, that were sent early in the morning, leaving Clare troubled. She confronts Fitz at The Dot, and he asks about the emails and her relationship with Eli. She snaps they are doing fine, and that it isn't any of his business. Fitz explains that he was just looking out for a friend and sent the emails while he was bored at an Internet cafe, saying he couldn't sleep. Clare continues to question him, but he doesn't answer, as they are not "friends". Later, during a thunderstorm, Fitz shows up injured on Clare's doorstep, pitifully saying he has nowhere else to go. After being let in, he tells her he fell off his bike, showing huge bruises across his torso when taking off his hoodie for her to dry. Merely saying he got the bruises falling off his bike, Fitz asks if he can stay still the storm is over. Once the storm ends, Clare confronts him about what really happened, and Fitz reveals that his stepbrother, Steve, hates him, and the hatred has only got worse since he has been out of juvie. He is determined to save Steve, but he refuses to listen and eventually broke and beat Fitz up. Before he leaves with his now-dry hoodie, Fitz tells Clare that in juvie, he always relied on a part of his mind to make it through - Clare. Clare asks if his change is fake and he retorts that none of this is an act - it's all real. He admits he has feelings for her. She rejects his feelings, saying she loves Eli, and Eli loves her. Fitz snarls that Eli doesn't love anything, and he is messed up. Clare defends Eli, but Fitz claims that the two of them have a spiritual connection. Before he is about to leave, Eli appears at the door, and Fitz tries to make peace with Eli. However, Eli has nothing to say to him, and runs out, leaving a furious Clare, who hands him the phone and says to call Father Greg to pick him up. He is last seen leaving Clare's house with Father Greg. Mentions In Dirt Off Your Shoulder (2), he his mentioned by Imogen when she tells Eli that Fitz was manipulating Clare at Vegas Night. He is later mentioned by Eli as a "religious psycho" when he is pitching the play to Clare, which is modeled after the disaster at Vegas Night. He does not return for season 12 but is mentioned about what he did in the past by Eli. He is further mentioned up until the play as Fritz (later turned to Jack). In Smash Into You (2), Adam tells Tristan about the time Fitz and Owen threw him into a glass door. During Scream (1) Eli tells Clare about the time he gave Fitz fake IDs. Quotes *{In Shoot to Thrill}: (To Fiona) "Hey new girl, can I see your tan lines?" (First line) *{In Jesus, Etc. (2)}: (To Eli) "Clare & I have a special connection!" (Last Line) *{In Heart Like Mine (1)}: (To Marco, about his dad) "Was he a midget too?" *{In Shoot to Thrill}: (To Johnny) "Aww puppy helps Johnny not be scared of the dark!" *{In Try Honesty (1)}: Fitz: "I'm sorry... about your nards." Eli: "About my wh-Oh!" *Fitz knees him and Eli falls to the ground* Fitz: *laughs* (Looks At Clare): "I apologized." *{In My Body Is A Cage (1)}: Drew: "Hey, I heard you were messing with my brother." Fitz: "Last time we checked you had a sister." *{In All Falls Down (1)}: "Got plans for tonight?" Clare: "Kinda, yeah." Fitz: "Break em'. Fitzy needs a date to Vegas Night." *{In Purple Pills (2)}: (To Adam and Bianca) "Cat fight!" *{In Better Off Alone (2)}: (To KC) "Man, your coach really hired a hooker? I want on that team." *{In All Falls Down (2)}: (To Clare: (about hooking up with her) "It's like physics." (Clare): "Biology." Fitz: "Whatever." *{In All Falls Down (1)}: (To Eli, about Clare): "But don't worry. When we have sex, I'll be gentle." *{In All Falls Down (1)}: (To Eli, about Clare): "I guess she's looking for a boyfriend who wears less eye makeup than she does." *{In All Falls Down (2)}: (To Clare) "Shut up, BITCH!" *{In All Falls Down (2)}: (To Eli, after 'stabbing') "Don't worry, you can bleach out urine stains." *{In All Falls Down (1)}: (To Eli) "What's a guy gotta do to get you out of his grille?!?!" *{In My Body Is A Cage (1)}: (To Adam) "By all means, whiz! In the urinal...standing up!" *{In Purple Pills (1)}: (To Adam, regarding Eli): "He probably blinded himself using too much guyliner." *{In Jesus, Etc. (1)}: (To Clare) "While I was away, I found answers. I found the answer. I found Jesus." *{In Jesus, Etc. (2)}: (To Eli) "Me and Clare have a spiritual connection!" *{In Jesus, Etc. (2)}: Clare: "Is any of this real?" Fitz: "It's all real. Just like my feelings for you Clare." *{In All Falls Down (2)}: (To Eli, about to "stab" him) "Someone's gotta shut you up." Trivia *Fitz was arrested twice thus far in the series. Whether or not his actions call for some serious action is unclear, as the character has had a huge role in the series thus far. His fanbase has grown quite a bit with the All Falls Down (1) and All Falls Down (2) episodes. Changes to his personality may lead to the speculations that his character has yet to show more to him. *His partner in crime was always Bianca DeSousa, but his brutality towards others was something she herself refrained from. This link between school bullies may be intensive for either Owen or some other bully to take over if he is expelled. Bianca is unlikely, as violence is not shown in her. Owen is a likely candidate and whether he feels anything towards his arrest is also up for speculation. *His police record is already large and bloated. He has already had a few strikes on him from Eli and whether Simpson contacted the cops on any other instance is unknown. Police action may be taken this time and his character is likely to be taken through the process of bookings. This impact is a very strong one as Degrassi is going to undergo a makeover that may prove to be strict and unreasonable as Simpson has been pushed to the edge. *He is the third out of four to intentionally harm someone else's car. He broke a hood ornament off of Eli's hearse. The other three are: **Paige, who crashed Spinner's car into Dean Walton's. **Rick Murray, who spray-painted an "X" on Spinner's and Jay's car doors. **K.C. Guthrie, who keyed Coach Armstrong's car. *In Jesus, Etc. (2) Fitz mentions he has an older step-brother who is a drug addict and is abusive towards him. *Fitz was supposed to join the main cast in the 2nd half of season 10, but was absent when the new intro was filmed, and it never happened *He is one of the many characters in the franchise who smoke. *Fitz was named after the former US Navy Commander Mark P. Fitzgerald he is possibly the first character to be named after a real person. *Fitz had a character, Fritz (later changed to Jack), a religious psycho, in Eli's play, Love Roulette, that was based on him. *Fitz and Mia were the first people featured in their classes, but left Degrassi before they graduated. *He became a Christian. *He had a crush on Clare Edwards, the girlfriend of the kid he bullied. Category:Degrassi: TNG characters Category:Male Characters Category:Season 9 Category:Season 10 Category:Recurring Characters Category:Degrassi Teens Category:Degrassi Characters Category:Degrassi Category:Seniors Category:Degrassi: The Next Generation Category:Degrassi: TNG teens